The present invention relates to improvements in the ventilation of toilets and, in particular, to a ventilation system that utilizes a ducted toilet seat to draw undesirable odours away from the toilet.
Commonly, the odours left behind after someone has used the toilet cause embarrassment and/or discomfort both to the user and to the person who next uses the toilet.
Toilet deodorisers and extractor fans, whether they be wall mounted or ceiling mounted, go some way to removing or at least disguising the odours. However, because they do not act to remove the odours at the source, namely in the vicinity of the toilet seat, they are sometimes only partly effective or slow in their effect, allowing some residual odours to remain by the time a person next uses the toilet. Clearly, the problem of residual odours is exacerbated the more frequently a toilet is used within any given time.
It is an object of the present invention to address the problem of odours left behind after someone has used the toilet by removing the odours nearer their source than is presently achieved with toilet deodorizers and extractor fans mounted in the perimeter of the room.
According to the invention, there is provided a ventilation system for removing odours from a toilet, said ventilation system comprising:
a seat supported on a bowl,
duct means defined within the seat,
the duct means having at least one inlet port for receiving the odours located at the inside rim of the toilet seat, and having at least one outlet port therefor, the duct means including an initial duct portion at the or each inlet port, the or each initial duct portion facing toward the rear of the seat when the seat is laid flat and the or each initial duct portion facing downwardly when the toilet seat is upright,
an air extractor means located remotely of the seat, and
a sealed pipe means connecting the or each outlet port to the air extractor means,
whereby the air extractor means, when in use, draws the odours away from the toilet through the duct means in the seat.
Preferably, the duct means includes a channel which is defined between the or each initial duct portion and the or each outlet port, the cross-sectional area of space defining the or each inlet port being less than that defining the junction between the or each initial duct portion and channel.
It is preferred that the sealed pipe means is sealably connected to the or each outlet port by a coupling which is insertable into the or each outlet port, the coupling having fitted thereover a removable filter basket for trapping any particulate matter drawn through the duct means.